832 E. Ljdekker— 0?i tlie Tortoises described as Clmlbassia. [No. 4, 



vote gronphj JV. aiimdata. In respect of coloration, N. frlcai-iiiafa is 

 strictly comparable with iV^. trijuga, and especially witli the yarietiea 

 fJiermalis and edeniana, in which the carapace is black, with more less 

 distinctly yellow carinse ; but the uniformly yellow plastron is very 

 distinctive of the present form, which may be defined as follows. 



Carapace elongatehj oval, somewhat vaulted, with a sudden descent from 

 the vertex to the 'posterior margin, and tricarinate. Vertehral shields as 

 hroad as, or hrnnder than, long (tuith the exception in some cases of the first), 

 and much narroiver than the costal s ; nnclal Jong and narrow. Plastron 

 moderately large; the width of the bridge considerably exceeding that of the 

 posterior lobe, which is broadly notched ; front lobe comparatively long and 

 narroiv ; in some cases a ligamentotis union between hypoplastrals and 

 carapace. Pectoral and abdominal shields nearly equal in size ; the longest 

 longitudinal stittire is between the pectorals, the shortest between the femo- 

 rals ; suture betireen the hiinierals as long as that between the anals, and a 

 little shorter than that between the gulars ; an axillary but no inguinal 

 shield. Upper jaiv not hoohed, notched mesially ; the width of the inau- 

 dible at the symphysis is less than the diameter of ilie orbit. Digits with- 

 out distinct web. Tail shorter than the head. Carapace dark brown or 

 black, with the ridges deep yellow ; plastron pale or orange-yellow. Head 

 and neck broivnish, ivith an orange stripe from the nostrils over the eyes, 

 and a paler patch on either side near the mandible ; iris brotpn. 



Length of carapace usually about, 13 to 14-5 centimetres.* 



Hab. Bengal and Assam. 



That the present form is almost exclusively terrestrial is shown by 

 the practical absence of webbing in the digits, and the contour of the 

 posterior portion of the carapace, which approximates to that obtaining 

 in Testudo. The ligamentous union of the hypoplastrals with the cara- 

 pace in certain individuals is an interesting feature as showing an approx- 

 imation to Cyclemys, where the union between the plastron and carapace 

 is entii-ely ligamentous, and there is also in the adult a transverse hinge 

 between the two lobes of the plastron itself. The occasional occurrence 

 of this partial ligamentous union in the present form afEords a curious 

 comment on the divisions of the Testudinata into sections according to the 

 nature of the union between the carapace and the plastron which have 

 been proposed by some writers. By all authors previous to Mr. Boulen- 

 ger, Emys, Cistudo, and Cyclemys on the one hand and Clemmys and Ni- 

 coria on the other, had been approximated, or generically united, in the 

 system, on the ground of the presence or absence of the jjlastral hinge. 



* Dr Aiirlerson gives the length of the shell of the Assmii foriri as 16 centi- 

 tiiHres but in the male it a only 13 centimetres. 



